Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men. – Francis Bacon
Age appears to be best in four things old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. – Francis Bacon
Truth is a good dog but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out. – Francis Bacon
This is the foundation of all. We are not to imagine or suppose, but to discover, what nature does or may be made to do. – Francis Bacon
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism. – Isaac Asimov
We find the most terrible form of atheism, not in the militant and passionate struggle against the idea of God himself, but in the practical atheism of everyday living, in indifference and torpor. We often encounter these forms of atheism among those who are formally Christians. – Nicolai A. Berdyaev
A just thinker will allow full swing to his scepticism. I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I am not afraid of falling into my inkpot…. We are of different opinions at different hours, but we always may be said to be at heart on the side of truth. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, 1860